Hartley to start last in Austria after power unit changes

Brendon Hartley will start Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix from the back of the grid after Honda made a tactical change of all his power unit components in order to stockpile parts for the remainder of the Formula 1 season.

Hartley qualified 19th on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, missing out on a Q2 berth by two-tenths of a second as he struggled to match Toro Rosso teammate Pierre Gasly for pace.

With Hartley's low qualifying position in mind, Honda confirmed on Sunday morning ahead of the race it had taken a complete new power unit on his car for the race, allowing the Japanese manufacturer to tactically gain additional parts to ease some of the pressure at forthcoming races.

"We are changing all the PU components on Brendon’s car prior to the race," Honda confirmed on Twitter.

"This is for tactical reasons, given that he qualified on the back row. There were no technical issues with the PU on Saturday!"

Good Morning! We are changing all the PU components on Brendon’s car prior to the race. This is for tactical reasons, given that he qualified on the back row. There were no technical issues with the PU on Saturday! #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/314oCsRQoM

— Honda Racing F1 (@HondaRacingF1) July 1, 2018

Hartley will drop from 19th to 20th on the final starting grid as a result of the changes, promoting Sauber's Marcus Ericsson one position.